Silverado Preventative Maintenance

My 2005 silverado z71 has 65,000 miles. It's paid off so of course I want to keep it functioning properly. Can I get a suggestion on what fluids I should changed and what parts replaced with this mileage.

Things I have done.
-25,000 mile service from dealership(whatever that is)
-Differential fluid changed but don't recall when.
-BG transmission flush at 48,000.
-Just had the transfer case fluid changed.

First off I would drop that BG transmission flush in the trash can.
Them things can be a transmission killer.

Change filter and fluid and use the GM Dexron 6.
No dope or fancy additives or universal fluid stuff.

On transfer case make sure they used the proper fluid.
And no dry payment driving in 4W.
Keep tires in good shape and all even thread and size.

Also make sure proper rear ends oil was used in rear ends.

At 65K I would check brake pads and consider brake fluid flush.
Look at and check all hoses and belts and filters

Coolant should be flushed and new Dexcool coolant added
ever 3 years or 50 K miles.
Gm and Dexcool say 150K or 5-7 years.
But stay with the 3 year or 50k for a long lasting truck on coolant.

Spark plugs they say 100K on them but for good mileage and good long lasting engine I would drop down to around 75 K or even less if hard driving.
And always use AC delco plugs and plug the latest Ac delco book calls for.

Your truck service manual or any good auto repair programs should cover the regular mantiance times and fluid types.

But as always keep the oil and filter and lube fittings greased and fluids serviced.
Take good care of it and it will take good care of you and last a long time.
Good Luck

:2cents:
1. rear diff fluid
2. transfer case fluid
3. front diff fluid
4. replace air filter with K&N air filter
5. replace spark plug wires, they are long due
6. spark plugs - it depends what you have; if it's iridiums, you prolly ok.
7. get yourself a stool, pop the hood open, locate any electrical plug and connector you possibly can, disconnect, clean with electrical cleaner, spray, lube with dielectric grease, and reinstall.
8. if it's not taking oil, switch to full synthetic oil
9. transmission fluid is due every 30 or so 000 miles.
10. brake pads need to be checked.

be prepared for: steering shaft replacement; window regulators replacement; hub bearings replacement; tie rods, pitman, and idler arm replacements. if you want to prolong that piece, install steering shock, it's 60 bucks bolt on deal.

hope i did not scare you too much. :runaround: :evillol:

Naw, I got a airaid permformance intake on it already, just cleaned the filter. Just did the brake pads and transfer case fluid because I had to replace the encoder motor sensor. I've been putting off the differential fluids because everyone wants so much to change out. Pass. side window has been a little slower than driver side for a year or so.
I'm keeping this one until gas mileage improves a bit on GM trucks. I think it's coming since Ford has advertised better gas mileage with their new engines coming out.

Naw, I got a airaid permformance intake on it already, just cleaned the filter. Just did the brake pads and transfer case fluid because I had to replace the encoder motor sensor. I've been putting off the differential fluids because everyone wants so much to change out. Pass. side window has been a little slower than driver side for a year or so.
I'm keeping this one until gas mileage improves a bit on GM trucks. I think it's coming since Ford has advertised better gas mileage with their new engines coming out.


if you plan on trading this vehicle in why do anything to it..?

the drive train fluids all require replacing at 30-40,ooomiles..

you may say why ????

when the vehicles are built some times the parts are contaminated ..with a fluid replacement this removes the damaging particles that wear out the working componets..

with transmissions this can be very expensive as most of this crap gets hung up in the torque converter..basicly its like sand blasting the valves and bores to cause you great expense..

not familiar with BG flush proceedures ,,,I hope they replaced the filter. if not good luck !

removal of the transmission pan takes time , this reduces their profit ..

my front diff had a great deal of contamination when new after replacing the diff fluid 2X before 10,ooomiles now no problems fluid looks good ..for 30-40,ooomiles when I replace it..

with the eaton locker rear diff this fluid can get damaged when operating the vehicle to hard during the first 1,ooo miles..this is when this fluid must be changed before any hauling or towing is to be done ..this fluid needs to be replaced after the first 3,ooomiles..this requires the cover to be removed to properly inspect and remove the debris...

coolant is good for 3-4yrs max..going longer than this it would be best to trade this for sure . once the system gets corroded or plugged up not worth repairing if you are not the type, to get your hands dirty..

Thanks. No, I'm planning on keeping this truck. Maybe I should have used a better word choice in my last post. I'm keeping this truck until gas mileage improves significantly. With the Ford new engines, GM will have to do something. Hopefully, they will keep working in this direction and make a truck that is worth make another payment for the gas mileage improvement. 21/22 mpg as advertised by Ford is not it.

well, here's the thing. high flow air FILTER improves mpg; KAI LOWERS mpg. i know this 100% from 1.5 year mpg log.

i just had nice chit chat with an upset, high mpg expectations, Tahoe owner here. 2010 or 2011 GM trucks have, actually, worse mpg than their older brethren. mine 2000 does better than 2010 V8 with cylinder deactivation. go to mpg.gov and see for yourself; unless you want to hassle with GM hybrid drive, and i WILL NEVER consider anything that complicated that came out of GM hands. Mazda already dropped Ford's hybrid drive, have no doubt, for good reason. switched to Toyota's HSD.

noticed, how i was spot on on windows? GM never learned, or did, but took no action, as it "costs money". infamous steering shaft is same problem in 99 and 2010.

I have the airaid high performance. I'm not sure if it is actaully a cold air intake or not. It replaces the airbox and has the shield totally separates the filter fromt the engine compartment. What is KAI? I have the real time mpg read out and tried the hypertech eco. programer but didn't get any better gas mileage. My 410 rear end doens't help at all. From my understand it was the only thing the extended cams came with in 05. Weird because you could get 3.73 in crew cab. Regarding the other topic, I think all auto makers learned they can make money on replacing parts after the warranty exceeeds.

sorry, CAI, not KAI. cold air intake. drops mpg by about 10% solid. you do have CAI. or so it's called, as I had CAI on a car with scangauge connected to OBD2, and could tell from readings that intake temperature was only few degres lower than from in stock airbox. absolutely not lower than ambient temp. so, it's not a "cold" intake. just whatever was under the hood. simply drives a little more air/oxygen in, and O2 sensor picks it up, and puts more gas into the system, to boost power. at mpg expense. :naughty:

Thanks. No, I'm planning on keeping this truck. Maybe I should have used a better word choice in my last post. I'm keeping this truck until gas mileage improves significantly. With the Ford new engines, GM will have to do something. Hopefully, they will keep working in this direction and make a truck that is worth make another payment for the gas mileage improvement. 21/22 mpg as advertised by Ford is not it.

the mpg on trucks will not change...

perhaps GM ford will make a plastic framed vehicle that weighs 2,ooolbs instead of 4.500lbs..then it will get better MPG..

If you plan on keeping this until these trucks get better MPG ,,,, that would justify another car loan, you will run this one until the wheels fall off !

I have the airaid high performance. I'm not sure if it is actaully a cold air intake or not. It replaces the airbox and has the shield totally separates the filter fromt the engine compartment. What is KAI? I have the real time mpg read out and tried the hypertech eco. programer but didn't get any better gas mileage. My 410 rear end doens't help at all. From my understand it was the only thing the extended cams came with in 05. Weird because you could get 3.73 in crew cab. Regarding the other topic, I think all auto makers learned they can make money on replacing parts after the warranty exceeeds.

If your Air Raid kit has a solid tube with no protrusions, then it is the kit along with the filter box. This is an ideal kit.

You have a Z71 package, which consists of 4.10 gears in the rear along with the front skid plate, shocks, etc... Hell, I think you might even have the L33 engine. The L33 is the RPO code for the aluminum block High Output 5.3 which produces 310 fwp where as the LM7 iron block engine was rated at 295 fwp. The L33 produces the same torque as the LM7 however. Look in your glove box and find either LM7 or L33

sorry, CAI, not KAI. cold air intake. drops mpg by about 10% solid. you do have CAI. or so it's called, as I had CAI on a car with scangauge connected to OBD2, and could tell from readings that intake temperature was only few degres lower than from in stock airbox. absolutely not lower than ambient temp. so, it's not a "cold" intake. just whatever was under the hood. simply drives a little more air/oxygen in, and O2 sensor picks it up, and puts more gas into the system, to boost power. at mpg expense. :naughty:

A CAI is useless until a the PCM is tuned or full exhaust is installed and the PCM is tuned then. You will see both mileage and performance.

However, on all of our trucks with the LS V8 engines, the best thing to do for more air is the replace the factory tube with an air-raid junior - which the kit consists of the tube and is cheaper than the full CAI kit. The stock air box does flow as good an aftermarkert air box.

The K&N Filters are good, but it certainly is a pain in the ass when the truck decides to throw a code and it be for lean condition - because the oiled air filters can be over oiled out of the box (and even after recharging) and the oil gets on the MAF screen. Then you have to take MAF cleaner/Electrical cleaner to it.

And don't believe the guys that tell you to descreen the MAF, you will f**k stuff up, and then have to go to the junkyard for another MAF off another truck.

The K&N Filters are good, but it certainly is a pain in the ass when the truck decides to throw a code and it be for lean condition - because the oiled air filters can be over oiled out of the box (and even after recharging) and the oil gets on the MAF screen. Then you have to take MAF cleaner/Electrical cleaner to it.

And don't believe the guys that tell you to descreen the MAF, you will f**k stuff up, and then have to go to the junkyard for another MAF off another truck.

`with the use of the kn filters you do need to clean the MAF...I do it every 15-20,ooomi...the filter works good ..but no off roading on dusty roads here..

the screen removal does throw off the maf operation ...so some remove this screen ? not to smart ..

Yes, I have a L33 code first column 4th row down in the glove box. I just read that only 25% of the trucks made in 2005 received the L33. Wow learned something new. I actually, think my mpg improved about 1 1/2 mpg after the CAI. I was getting between 11.5-12.5 hwy and city driving and now I stay at 13.5. Darn now you guys have me wondering what I need to do with my cold air intake. It does have the slick tube. Heck, here's a pic:
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/4/web/3064000-3064999/3064829_18_full.jpg
not my truck but what it looks like. I do still have the factory air box but I'd rather keep this one if I can do something that makes it more productive for gas mileage being it was the reason I bought it. Is it worthy to tune the MAF and how? I still have stock exhaust because I'm not a fan of the noise. Been there done that with a mustang. I was looking at the GM single touring exhaust but not sure if it was worth the money.

To my understanding the GMPP exhaust was Corsa ($$$) and now it's Borla.

Corsa is expensive...The kits only come as a cat-back exhaust. Corase offers a DB series muffler, but those are unknown to me, I have no idea.

However, many have found that the 22-24inch length oval case Magnaflows are worth it. I have a 14" case on my V6 and it's way quiet at idle compared to when I have my Flowmaster Super 44.

The MAF is nothing to worry about. It's there for helping the engine run. You need a PCM tune. Black Bear Performance, Nelson, or Wheatley Performance are all decent and will hook you up with a tune to your liking. The tune is more about performance and driveability with a hint of fuel economy.

GM Parts Direct has them made by Corsa for my truck but they also have these made by GM.
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/part_images/17801963.jpg
$389.90

2001-2007 Silverado, or Sierra, 1500 Series,Extended Cab / 6' 6" Regular Box / Fleetside 4.8, or 5.3 liter engine The GM Performance Exhaust System is constructed of T-304 stainless steel with mandrel bent tubing and features semi-polished S-type mufflers with two distinctive sounds: the Touring System has a "throaty purr", while the Performance System gives the truck an "aggressive growl". Unique to the GM Performance Exhaust System are adjustable and interchangeable, fully-polished exhaust tips that proudly display the Chevy Bowtie or GMC logo.

Since you guys are talking exhaust. If you live in the rust belt, spend the extra $ for the stainless exhaust. On my everyday driver, the aluminized steel cat-back only lasted 2 years before the muffler and pipes rusted out.

Def recommend Magnaflow's stainless cat back system I have had them for 4 hard years still look new. They are not super loud at normal throttle range, just a really low rumble, but they sound really good at 5700 :evillol:

Agreed. Magnaflow is good. If you want it to sound almost like stock you'll want to get a 22-24" oval case muffler. I have a 14" case and it's quiet at all but any kind of throttle and it gets loud.